Floating piers and similar dock structures are commonly formed by connecting a number of marine floats. Such floats typically comprise a concrete shell which surrounds a foam core or hollow core, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,203, to Usab, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,448,709, to Hardwick, Jr. These floats include an upper deck surface which can be integrally formed with the remainder of the concrete shell or formed as a separate piece and connected to the remainder of the shell at the time of final construction, as disclosed in the patent to Hardwick, Jr.
When constructing a floating pier, floats are typically arranged to form an elongated mainwalk having a large number of spaced-apart finger floats projecting from the mainwalk. Boats are then typically moored on opposite sides of each finger float.
The mainwalks are formed by arranging a plurality of individual mainwalk floats end to end. The individual floats are then secured to one another using elongated wooden walers which extend along the sides of adjoining floats and are secured to the floats to join adjacent floats together. The finger floats normally abut the side of the mainwalk floats or walers and project perpendicularly outward. Some form of bracing, such as triangular braces including a deck portion, is generally used to secure the finger floats to the mainwalk.
While concrete marine floats of the type described above work well for projects such as a typical floating pier assembly, there remain several drawbacks to the conventional designs.
Conventional concrete floats are not readily adaptable to a wide range of configurations using a minimum number of standard unit types. Relatively wide mainwalk floats and narrower finger floats are commonly assembled into a pier structure. To produce double-width mainwalk portions or 11/2-width mainwalk portions a manufacturer would, until now, have to fabricate special forms for each special float size desired. Furthermore, conventional floats are not well adapted for use in other non-pier structural configurations, such as large rectangular floating foundations.
Another disadvantage of conventional float assemblies is that the end-to-end waler connections typically used are relatively flexible. This flexibility may tend to distribute loads unevenly to the piles and can cause discomfort to persons walking on the float assemblies. Additionally, the wood to concrete connections inherent in the end-to-end waler connections create potential failure points at every material discontinuity.